Autodesk Enters the Gaming Industry

Middleware is a software framework provided by third-party companies to help create complete packages without starting from scratch. Anywhere code is present, middleware can be found. The most prevalent use of this shortcut can be found in the gaming industry.

An unlikely company is venturing into the middleware sector of gaming -- Autodesk Inc. -- which, on March 1, 2011, acquired the company Scaleform.

Autodesk Inc. (makers of AutoCAD) has announced the upcoming release of Scaleform UI Middleware, targeted for developers who want to design games for mobile platforms based on Android, iOS, and Windows 8, but have little to no programming experience. Previous iterations of the software were primarily used by big-name developers to pump out "triple-A" titles such as Crysis 2, Mass Effect 3, and Batman: Arkham City.

Autodesk Scaleform workflow concept. (Source: Autodesk)

The software suite enables developers to incorporate their Adobe Flash game renderings into the Unity game engine, which not only helps them bring their ideas to life, but also gives them the ability to add features, such as HUDs (Heads Up Displays) and game menus. Scaleform can also give developers the ability to create entire 2D games using advanced tools such as triangle-based tessellation (rendering), Edge AA (Anti-Aliasing), and multi-threading, which can take advantage of mobile devices equipped with multiple CPUs and GPUs.

A preview SDK of Scaleform is available now, with the commercial release expected sometime before the end of the year, at a cost of about $295 per platform. Not bad for those of us who have great ideas for mobile gaming, but donít necessarily have the greatest skills in programming.

Autodesk plans to push the Scaleform, "Gameware," product into the education sector, in an effort to expose students to professional level tools. The Gameware team states that "education should provide a strong theoretical background, as well as practical skills and industry knowledge so that students can best prepare themselves for their profession."

Autodesk believes that whether you are in architecture, engineering, or digital arts, their comprehensive software is a path to success. With Scaleform, they certainly can give anyone a taste of the gaming industry.

The fact that autodesk is getting into this type of software is not that all suprising. They have had 3DMax and I think they now have Maya which are used in 3d animation and games. I hope they can manage to keep the price tag of the software down. Back before EA studios bought all of the small and growing gaming studios, there was quite a lot of inexpensive software to aid a budding programmer or graphics artist. Now-a-days, it is unreachable for most without getting a huge discount.

I think that is one of the biggest advantages to the scalable technology, Cabe. So many applications are geared toward one platform or the another. However, for real world users, what works for one may not work for somebody else, even if they both want the same basic funtionality...or worse, the same person in two different situations.

Desktop development is not the only part of the Scaleform project. Mobile OS development is also in the mix. Not to mention, the UI builder is not just for games either. It is a great foundation for regular app development.

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